Marilyn Singer was born in the Bronx (New York City) on October 3, 1948 and lived most of her early life in N. Massapequa (Long Island), NY. She attended Queens College, City University of New York, and for her junior year, Reading University, England. She holds a B.A. in English from Queens and an M.A. in Communications from New York University. In 1974, after teaching English in New York City high schools for several years, she began to write - initially film notes, catalogues, teacher's guides and film strips. Then, one day, when she was sitting in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, she penned a story featuring talking insect characters she'd made up when she was eight. Encouraged by the responses she got, she wrote more stories and in 1976 her first book, The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't, was published by E.P.Dutton & Co. Since then, Marilyn has published over seventy books for children and young adults. Her genres are many and varied, including realistic novels, fantasies, non-fiction, fairy tales, picture books, mysteries and poetry. She likes writing many different kinds of books because it's challenging and it keeps her from getting bored. She has won several Children's Choice and Parents' Choice Awards, as well as the following: the Creature Carnival, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book, 2005; I Believe in Water: Twelve Brushes with Religion, New York Public Library's "Best Books for the Teen Age," 2001; Stay True: Short Stories for Strong Girls, Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2000 (YALSA); On the Same Day in March, Booklist's Top Ten Science Books of 2000; NCSS-CBC Notable Book, 2000; Deal with a Ghost, finalist, YA category, Edgar Award, 1998; It Can't Hurt Forever, Maud Hart Lovelace Award, 1983; The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 1983; Turtle in July, NCTE Notable, N.Y.Times Best Illustrated and Time Magazine Best Children's Books of 1989; Turtle in July was also a Reading Rainbow review book. Marilyn currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband Steve; their standard poodle Oggi, a cousin of their beloved and recently departed poodle Easy, seen in the home page photo; a cat named August ; two collared doves named Jubilee and Holiday; and a starling named Darling. Her interests include dog training, reading, hiking, bird-watching, gardening, meditation, playing computer adventure games and going to the movies and the theatre. She's also a major Star Trek fan.
Series
Books
Who Are You Calling Weird?
A Celebration of Weird & Wonderful Animals
2018
On the Same Day in March
A Tour of the World's Weather
2000
Ghost Host
1987
The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't
1976
A Stick Is an Excellent Thing
Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play
2012
Mirror Mirror
A Book of Reversible Verse
2010
First Food Fight This Fall and Other School Poems
2008
All We Needed to Say
Poems About School from Tanya and Sophie
1996
Ways to Say I Love You
2020
Monday on the Mississippi
2005
Every Month Is a New Year
Celebrations around the World
2018
Follow the Recipe
Poems about Imagination, Celebration, and Cake
2020
Tallulah's Ice Skates
2018
The Boy Who Cried Alien
2012
Creature Carnival
2004
Deal with a Ghost
1997
How to Cross a Pond
Poems About Water
2003
Fireflies at Midnight
2003
Wild in the Streets
20 Poems of City Animals
2019
Hairy, Hairy Poodle
Ready-to-Read Level 1
2022
Miss Muffet, or What Came After
2016
Dog Says, Cat Says
2022
Tallulah's Tutu
2011
The Circus Lunicus
2000
Hair!
Animal Fur, Wool, and More
2019
A Full Moon Is Rising
2011
Monster Museum
2001
A Raven Named Grip
How a Bird Inspired Two Famous Writers, Charles Dickens and Edgar Allan Poe
2021
Tallulah's Tap Shoes
2015
Shoe Bop!
2008
I Believe in Water
Twelve Brushes with Religion
2000
I'm Gonna Climb a Mountain in My Patent Leather Shoes
2014
Awe-some Days
Poems about the Jewish Holidays
2022
What Is Your Dog Doing?
2011
Tallulah's Solo
2012
Best Day Ever!
2021
Have You Heard About Lady Bird?
Poems About Our First Ladies
2018
Gulp, Gobble
2019
Boo Hoo Boo-Boo
2002
Twosomes
Love Poems from the Animal Kingdom
2010
Neighborhood Animals
2001
A Strange Place to Call Home
The World's Most Dangerous Habitats & the Animals That Call Them Home
2012
Echo Echo
Reverso Poems About Greek Myths
2016
Venom
2007
Caterpillars
2011
Quiet Night
2002
Who Named Their Pony Macaroni?
Poems About White House Pets
2019
Eggs
2008
A Dog's Gotta Do What a Dog's Gotta Do
Dogs at Work
2000
Nine O'Clock Lullaby
1991
Prairie Dogs Kiss & Lobsters Wave
How Animals Say Hello
1998
I'm Your Bus
2009
The Maiden on the Moor
1995
Make Me Over
Eleven Stories of Transformation
2005
Charmed
1990
The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth
1983
Chester the Out-of-Work Dog
1992
Follow Follow
A Book of Reverso Poems
2013
City Lullaby
2007
It Can't Hurt Forever
1978
Cats to the Rescue
True Tales of Heroic Felines
2006
Tallulah's Toe Shoes
2015
Tarantulas on the Brain
1982
In the Palace of the Ocean King
1995
Turtle in July
1989
Footprints on the Roof
Poems About the Earth
2002
Feel the Beat
Dance Poems that Zing from Salsa to Swing
2017
Stay True
Short Stories for Strong Girls
1998
What's a Banana?
2016
Let's Build a Clubhouse
2006
The Superheroes Employment Agency
2012
Float, Flutter
Ready-to-Read Pre-Level 1
2019
The Company of Crows
A Book of Poems
2002
Bug Dipping, Bug Sipping
2020
Rutherford B., Who Was He?
Poems About Our Presidents
2013
Central Heating
Poems About Fire and Warmth
2004
I'm Getting a Checkup
2009
Every Day's a Dog's Day
A Year in Poems
2012
Didi and Daddy on the Promenade
2001
What's an Apple?
2016
It's Hard to Read a Map With a Beagle on Your Lap
1993
Tallulah's Nutcracker
2013
I'm the Big One Now!
Poems about Growing Up
2019
Block Party Today!
2004
Bird Singing, Bird Winging
2020
Horsemaster
1985
